USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first combination test for flu and C OVID-19 that can be used at home, giving consumers an easy way to determine if a runny nose is caused by either disease.

The Lucira COVID-19 & Flu Home test, which can be purchased without a prescription, uses self-collected nasal swab samples and delivers results in about 30 minutes, the agency said.

CHICAGO (AP) — For years, Republicans have sought to win over voters by depicting Democratic-led cities as lawless centers of violence that need tough-on-crime policies. In Chicago, some of the Democrats running for mayor are deploying the same strategy as they debate how to make the city safer.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration moved Friday to require patients see a doctor in person before getting attention deficit disorder medication or addictive painkillers, toughening access to the drugs against the backdrop of a deepening opioid crisis.

The proposal could overhaul the way millions of Americans get some prescriptions after three years of relying on telehealth for doctor’s appointments by computer or phone during the pandemic.

MIAMI (AP) — Florida Democrats on Saturday are set to choose a new party leader after a disastrous midterm performance in the onetime presidential battleground state, with particularly abysmal results among Latinos.

The strongest contenders are former state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and former state senator Annette Taddeo, both of whom lost their own races last year. Fried lost the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to Charlie Crist, while Taddeo failed to unseat Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ever the outsider, Jimmy Carter served a turbulent term in the White House. His presidency was beset by soaring interest and inflation rates, gasoline pump lines and the Iran hostage crisis that eventually led to his re-election defeat.

But he rose to even greater heights with his post-presidential career, devoting another four decades to working as an international envoy of peacemaking and democracy. James Earl Carter Jr., a peanut farmer who became the 39th president of the United States, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A powerful winter storm lashing California threatened floods, blizzards and avalanches Saturday while adding frigid temperatures to the misery mix.

Overnight lows could drop below freezing in some areas while downtown San Francisco could see record-breaking cold temperatures Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Projected temperatures of 38 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) would see the city at its coldest since 2009, the weather service said.

NEW YORK, February 24. /TASS/: The United States will announce a new package of military aid to Ukraine worth $2 billion on Friday, CNN reported.

A vast portion of funds will be used to finance production of munitions in the United States, the report says.

The list of military equipment to be delivered to Ukraine, published by the broadcaster, does not include fighter jets which Kiev has been requesting.

WASHINGTON, February 24. /TASS/: The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on Russia’s Lanta Bank, Metallinvestbank, Credit Bank of Moscow, MTS Bank, SDM-Bank, and the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as on the Zenit, Levoberezhny, Primorye, Saint-Petersburg and Uralsib banks.

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday said they were seeking to forfeit six properties in New York and Florida allegedly belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch, and separately charged a Russian national with illegally exporting counterintelligence equipment.

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The United States marked the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Friday with new sanctions, export controls and tariffs against Russia and its allies aimed at undermining Moscow's ability to wage war.

Washington also said it would provide another $2 billion in weaponry for Kyiv as it prepares for a spring offensive. The aid did not include F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine has requested.

President Joe Biden consulted leaders of the G7 bloc of wealthy nations and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy to discuss more aid.